The Brothers Karamazov
Publisher Description
An Apple Books Classic edition.
A towering achievement of psychological depth and spiritual inquiry, The Brothers Karamazov blends passionate philosophy into a riveting story of family conflict, erotic jealousy, betrayal, and murder.
Cruel, self-indulgent Fyodor Karamazov has never acted like a father to his sons, brilliant skeptic Ivan, impulsive and romantic Dmitri, and kindhearted novice Alyosha. They’ve grown into three men as different as one could imagine, but Fyodor remains heartless as ever, taking joy in his own callous conduct and sadistic games.
As Fyodor mires himself in financial misdeeds and a devious love triangle, author Fyodor Dostoevsky probes timeless questions of justice, faith, and responsibility, asking what a father owes his sons and what a society owes its people. Ferocious and unforgettable, The Brothers Karamazov remains one of literature’s most profound explorations of the moral soul.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We loved immersing ourselves in the 19th-century Russian setting of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s classic tale of a vicious, debauched patriarch and his four very different sons. Filled with intrigue, romance, conflicts over money and religion, and even tense courtroom drama, The Brothers Karamazov is the kind of novel that invites you to take your time. Dostoyevsky’s archetypal characters let him explore timeless concepts including faith, conscience, guilt, kindness and love—but they’re also compellingly drawn, frequently amusing human beings. We were riveted by the author’s acute observations of interactions between people, which still ring absolutely true today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The depth, complexity, and length of what many consider to be Dostoyevski's best work make it one of the hardest classic novels to bring to audio. The philosophical novel/murder mystery set in 19th-century Russia requires a strong and versatile narrator to keep listeners going for the day-and-a-half-plus duration. Thankfully, narrator Constantine Gregory masters the challenge. In doing so, he manages the omniscient third-person narration by using a pleasant mellifluous tone that invites the listener to relax and approach the text patiently and carefully. The novel also features first-person voices from the large cast of characters, such as Father Zosima, who, naturally enough, argues for the existence of a higher power and Gregory is able to imbue those sections with enough individuality to make them as distinct as the author intended.
